Specialist Support Worker

**Specialist Support Worker**

We’re looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Specialist Support Worker to join our Mental Health service in Newham.

**£24,000.00 per annum working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, **staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.

Want to feel in control of your career? You’ll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

The services consist of 43 units of accommodation across four delivery sites and form a mini pathway of higher, medium and move on support accommodation. We provide 24-hour support to 16 customers. We have 5 units with complex needs. Some of our customers have dual diagnosis and others have serious trauma.

This is a forensic, mixed gender service with 16 unit - we have 8 high support clients and 8 low to mid support. It is a relatively calm service, where no personal care is required, however medication support is needed, which may require administering, but full training is provided.

Clients there live independently but still need some support from staff to manage their mental health and protect their tenancy. They do not require direct personal care.

The clients have a diverse background from homelessness, substance misuse and all have enduring mental health challenges.
- This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation._

**What you’ll do**:
As a Specialist Support Worker, you will be prompting personal care routines, taking a lead on the day to day, completing the handover from morning staff, managing medication, actioning fire safety, completing general admin work, ensuring records are accurately kept.

You will need to be confident in liaising with external agencies and stakeholders to get the desired results.

It’s rewarding gaining customers independence and supporting their living. However, the behaviour can be challenging, there can be verbal aggression, resilience to change and the customers can be unpredictable - for example not following the fire instructions

The customers can display hoarding behaviour,

You need to be comfortable with crisis management, be assertive, have good interpersonal skills and be good at conflict management.

You need have good self-esteem, and emotional resilience, while maintaining a strong customer focus

**About you**:
**What you’ll bring**:
**Essential**:

- NVQ level 3 in social care sector or experience.
- Knowledge in Microsoft programmes

Desirable
- Experience in Mental Heath
- Housing support experience
- Higher education with previous sector experience
- NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent with previous relevant sector work experience.
- Experience providing targeted recovery focussed support to individuals with needs around mental health, substance use and dual diagnosis.

**About us**:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
- We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date._

**Job Types**: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent

**Salary**: £24,000.00 per year

Shift:

- 8 hour shift
- Day shift

Ability to commute/relocate:

- London, E7 9DE: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Work Location: One location

Reference ID: REQ004556